Schizoaffective disorder is a serious mental disorder that dramatically changes the way you think, act, express emotions, relate to other people, and perceive the world around you. While this disorder most often begins in early adulthood, people can develop this disorder at any point in their lives - from adolescence through late adulthood. People who have schizoaffective disorder have a combination of symptoms of schizophrenia, like hallucinations or delusions, in addition to marked periods of a mood disorder, like major depression or mania, that cannot be better explained by a medical problem or substance abuse. These symptoms can severely impact every part of your daily life - your home life, your job, and your relationships with other people.
Schizoaffective disorder has two types: bipolar type, in which the person has a manic episode with or without major depressive episodes, and depressive type, which applies only if the person experiences only major depressive episodes in absence of mania or manic symptoms. Manic symptoms can include a decreased need for sleep, impulsiveness, reckless behavior, and grandiose manners of thinking.
For someone who has schizoaffective disorder, the symptoms of a mood disorder must be pervasive, or long-lasting, however, these symptoms must be absent during periods of schizophrenia-like symptoms - hallucinations or delusions that last for two or more weeks. It is these pervasive mood disturbances that differentiates schizophrenia from schizoaffective disorder. The mixture of symptoms from different types of other mental disorders that may lead to difficulty in diagnosing and treating people who have schizoaffective disorder. It is believed to run a different course of symptoms in each person who has this condition, which can pose even greater challenges in proper diagnosis and adequate treatment. While this is a chronic condition, with proper treatment and learned management of symptoms, people who have schizoaffective disorder are able live a full, productive, and happy life.
Statistics
As schizoaffective disorder may be undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for long periods of time, it is challenging to pinpoint exactly how many people have this disorder. It’s widely believed that schizoaffective disorder is approximately one-third as common as schizophrenia. Schizoaffective disorder is roughly estimated to affect 0.3% of the population. Due to the increased incidence of the depressive type of schizoaffective disorder in women, the disorder is more common among females than males.
Co-Occurring Disorders
People who have schizoaffective disorder can also be diagnosed with other types of mental disorders. These disorders can include:
- Anxiety disorders
- Substance abuse disorders
Causes of Schizoaffective Disorder
There are a number of risk factors for and potential causes of schizoaffective disorder. It is important to rule out any other reasons for the disorder, such as amphetamine abuse, seizure disorders, or steroid usage. Causes of schizoaffective disorder may include:
Genetic: Having a relative with a mood disorder, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophrenia increases the likelihood that a person may develop schizoaffective disorder.
Biological: Studies have indicated that schizoaffective disorder may be caused by an imbalance of dopamine and serotonin levels in the brain. Dopamine and serotonin are neurotransmitters that assist in relaying signals throughout the brain as well as mood regulation.
Psychological: Research suggests that a pattern of poor social interactions and highly stressful situations may trigger schizoaffective disorder in people who have a predisposition for the illness.
Environmental: It has been postulated that prenatal exposure to viral illnesses or toxins may play a role in later in life development of schizoaffective disorder. Complications during birth may also lead to the occurrence of schizoaffective disorder.
It’s important to note that not one single cause has been identified as the reason a person does or does not develop schizoaffective disorder. It is likely that a number of these factors work together to cause this condition.
Signs and Symptoms
The presentation of schizoaffective disorder will vary from person to person, therefore, signs of the disorder will vary. People with this condition will experience psychotic symptoms – paranoid thoughts, disorganized thinking, and hallucinations – in addition to a mood disturbance. This mood disturbance can be either mania or depression. The course of this disorder most often has cycles of extreme symptoms which are followed by lessening of the symptom. This cycle is called a “relapse.”
Mood S/S
Depressive Type:
- Feeling sad all of the time.
- Unable to concentrate
- Thoughts of death or suicide
- Loss of interest in everyday activities
Bipolar Type:
- Extremely elevated mood
- Sudden, out-of-character, marked increase in energy
- Cheerfulness that can turn into irritability
Physical S/S
Depressive Type:
- Changes in sleep – finding it harder and harder to fall asleep or stay asleep
- Eating too much or too little
- Complaints of various physical problems.
- Feeling extremely lethargic
- Not taking care of physical appearance.
- Being unconcerned with proper hygiene
- Finding it hard to concentrate
Bipolar Type:
- Suddenly needing less sleep than normal.
- Being unconcerned with proper hygiene.
- Intense rage and anger
- Homicidal thoughts
Behavioral Symptoms
Depressive Type:
- Acting very sleepy
- Unable to concentrate
- Feeling worthless
- Acting as though they are in a daze
Bipolar Type:
- Speaking in a way that other people cannot understand
- Speaking too quickly to carry out a conversation
- Inability to control temper
- Intense anger
- Increased amount of impulsive and reckless behaviors, such as engaging in unsafe sexual intercourse or gambling large amounts of money.
Psychological Symptoms
- Experiencing paranoid ideas and thoughts.
- Believing someone is going to hurt you
- Unusual thoughts or perceptions
- Hallucinations
- Disorganized, unclear thinking
- Delusions - false yet fixed beliefs
- May seem like they don’t have any emotions
- Confuse other people with their strange behaviors
- Inappropriate emotional responses.
Effects of Schizoaffective Disorder
Early and proper diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder is vital as the disorder can cause significant effects and affect all areas of daily living. These effects can include the following:
- Suicide
- Major depression
- Bipolar disorder
- Alcoholism
- Substance abuse
- Problems functioning at work or school
- Problems related to risky behaviors
- Difficulty maintaining relationships